Brake-operating means.



No. 789,551. PATENTED MAY 9, 1905. L. C. KHLER.

BRAKE OPERATING MEANS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 6, 1904.

ivo. 789,551.

rares Patented May 9, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS C. .KOI-ILER, OF MILVAUKEE, W'ISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR OF ONEJIALF TOLORENZ KRESS, JR., OF MILVAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

lllAKEf-OPEFZATING NIE/ANSn SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters PatentNo. 789,551, dated May 9, 1905.

Application tiled September 6, 1904. Serial No. 223,376.

To (all who/n it 77u14/ concern/ Be it known that I, LOUIS C. KOHLER,residing in Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State ofVisconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in Brake-OperatingMeans, o'f which the following is adescription, reference being had tothe accompan ,ving draw- ,.ings, which are a part of this specification.

This invention relates to brake-operating to means, and has for itsobject to provide a means for applying the brakes of moving vehicles byutilizing' the momentum of the vehicle as a braking force.

A further object of this invention is to provide a roller adapted to bebrought into contact with one of the wheels of the vehicle to receiverotary motion therefrom and cause it to ride on a bearing-lever andwedge its way between said bearing-lever and the wheeltread to produce amovement of the bearinglever, and thereby apply the brakes.

A further object of this invention is to provide such a device as abovementioned with a clutching` means between the wheel-engaging 2 5 portionand the bearing-leverengaging portion which will lock together suchengaging portions until a predetermined resistance is met with by thebearing-iever-engaging portion, when such engaging portions aredisconnected and the wheel-engaging portion is free to moveindependently of the other engaging portion.

With the above and other objects in View the invention consists in thedevices and parts 3 5 and combinations of parts and their equivalents,as hereinafter set forth.

Referring to the accompanying' drawings, in which like characters ofreference indicate the same parts in the several views, Figure l is aside elevation o'fone end of a car-plat 'form with its truck, partsbeing broken away for clearness of illustration. Fig. 2 is a bottom Viewthereof. Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the wheel-engaging rollers andtheir coperating parts, taken on the plane of line 3 3 of Fig. 1; andFig. 4 is an enlarged detail view of a modified form of engaging means.

`In the drawings, 7 represents a car-platform pivotally mounted by akingbolt 8 on the bolster 9 of a four-wheeled car-truck of usual 50construction. Briefly, the truck comprises the pair of side bars 10,having journaled between them axles l1, carrying' ear-wheels 12, andconnected at their middle portions by a bolster 9 anda pair of transoms13 and at 55 their ends by end pieces 14, all in the manner now commonwith truck-frames for tractioncars. A pair of oppositelvexteiulinghangerbrackets 15 are secured to the transoms 13 and have links orbrake-hangers 16 pivotally 60 mounted on their Lipper ends and pivotallysuspending the brake-shoes 17 in close relation to the tread ot' thecar-wheels 12. Brakelevers 18 and 19, respectively, are pivoted to thebrake-shoes 17 and are pivotally con- 5 nected at their lower ends by acoupling-bar 20, the dead brake-lever I8 having its upper end engaging'a notched stop 21, secured to one of the transoms 13, and the other (thelive brake-lever 19) having its upper end pivotally 70 connected to abrake-rod 22. A coil-spring 23 serves to connect the upper ends of thetwo brake-levers 18 and 19 and tends to normally hold the brake-shoes 17away vfrom the tread of the wheels 12. The brake-rods 22 pass through 75guide-brackcts 21, which are carried by one of the end pieces 14, andpivotally connect to an arc-shaped bar 25, which is curved about theking-bolt 8 as a center and is embraced by a yoked link 26, carrying aroller 26 to bear 8o upon the inner edge thereof. The link 2G has a hook27 pivoted in its other end and engaging with the center brake-lever 28,which is pivoted to a bracket 29 at the middle portion of thecar-platform. rlhe hook 27 engages the center 8 5 brake-lever 28, nearthe pivot thereof, and at the eXtreme of the other end of said centerbrake-lever is pivoted a brake-rod 30, containing a turnbuckle 31 andconnecting with the outer end of a lever 32, which is pivoted to abracket 33, depending from the car-platform. The brake-gear as abovedescribed is duplicated at the other end of the car, the centerbrake-lever serving when swung from either end of the car to apply orrelease the brakes through the connection therewith of the brake-gearot' each truck, and this whatever the position of the truck may be, for

during the turning of the truck on its kingbolt 8 the arc-shaped bar 25maintains its operative connection with the link 26.

In order to apply and release the brakes, each end of the car-platformis provided with a means for forcibly throwing the lever 32 at that endof the car-platform in such a manner that the momentum of the car willserve to apply the brakes with force and still permit of a quick andeasy release thereof by hand operation. Vith this end in view each endof the car-platform is provided with an upright shaft 34, having acrank-handle 35 on its upper end and passing through the platform at itslower end and journaled in a bracket 36 beneath the platform. Alockinglever 37 is pivoted beneath the crank-handle and connects with arod 38, having a sliding bearing in lugs on the shaft 34 to engage withany of a series of perforations contained in a plate 39 on the platform,by means of which the shaft may be locked in any of its desiredpositions. At the lower end of the shaft 34, between the car-platformand the bracket 36, is mounted a crank 40, connected to a link 41,having adjustable connection with a lever 42, which is pivoted to abracket 43 beneath the car-platform. A link 44 connects with the freeend of lever 42, and after passing through a suitable guide carried bythe car-platform, such as 45, it embraces by its yoked end an arcshapedrod 46, which is also curved upon the king-bolt 8 as a center and ispivotally mounted between the longer arms of a pair of bellcranklevers47, which are pivotally supported on plates 48, secured to the front endpiece 14 of the truck-frame. The bell-crank levers 47 have their pivotalconnections on the plates 48 provided by means of a rod 49, whichconnects the two plates 48 and serves to keep the two bell-crank levers47 in pivotal alinement. rIhe link 44 is provided with a pair of rollers50 to bear upon the front and rear edges of the rod 46, and the yokemembers of said link 44 prevent the rod 46 turning therebetween. Thecurvature of said rod 46 serves, as in the case with rod 25, to preservethe connection between the parts carried by the car-platform and theparts carried b v the truck-frame during the swingingmovements of thetruck. Each of the shorter arms of the bell-crank levers 47 has pivotedto it an arm 51, both of said arms 51 being preferably rigidly connectedto a shaft 52, extending between them and a considerable distancebeyond. On each end of the shaft 52, beyond the arms 51, is rotatablymounted a sleeve 53, carrying a pair of spaced rollers 54 and 55,respectively, which are preferably of differentsiZes. The rollers 55 arecapable of being brought into contact with the tread of the car-wheels12 when the bell-crank levers 47 are swung to lower their shorter arms,and the rollers 54 are adapted to ride in channeled bearing or tracklevers 56, which are pivoted to the front end piece 14 of thetruck-frame in bearings 57, provided therefor. The lower ends of saidchanneled levers extend below the bearings 57 and are adapted to limitthe swing of the channeled levers toward the carwheels by engaging withthe front end piece 14 of the truck-frame. An arc-shaped rod 58 connectsthe upper ends of the two channeled levers 56 and has slidably connectedthereto the yoked end of a link 59, carrying a roller 60 in its yokedportion to engage the concave edge of the rod 58, the other end. of saidlink 59 being' connected by a hook 61 to the lever 32 before mentioned.

In operation when it is desired to apply the brakes the shaft 34 isturned in its bearing by means of the crank-handle 35, so as to swingthe crank 40 and the lever 42 through the link connection 41 therewith,

and so produce a push upon the link 44 to cause it to swing' thebell-crank levers 47 by the rod 46 connecting them and having thesliding connection with said link 44. This motion of the bell-cranklevers 47 pulls down upon the arms 51 and draws the rollers 55 intoengagement with the tread of the carwheels 12. The car being in motionand the wheels thereof turning in the direction of the arrow of Fig. 1will cause the rollers 55 to turn in the opposite direction, and as therollers 54 are rigid with rollers 55, both being rigidly mounted on thesleeves 5 3, said rollers 54 are also caused to rotate in the oppositedirection to the direction of rotation of the car-wheels, and as theybear upon the channeled levers 56 this rotation will cause them totravel downwardly on said channeled levers. The downward movement of therollers 54 also brings the rollers 55 down with them, and as saidrollers 55 ride on the tread of the car-wheels they produce a forwardswing of the channeled levers 56, and thereby apply the brakes throughthe connection of the link 59 with the rod 58, carried by said channeledlevers, swinging the lever 32 and through it the center brake-lever 28by means of the brake-rod 30. To release the brakes, it is onlynecessary to return the shaft 34 to its original position, when thebellcrank levers 47 will be swung in the opposite direction to raise theshaft 52 and lift the. rollers 55 out of contact with the car-wheels,thus permitting the coil-springs 23 to withdraw the brake-shoes 17 fromthe car-wheels. In order to limit the upward movement of the shaft 52,the channeled levers 56 have curved extensions 62 to engage with thesleeves 53 as the rollers 54 ride upwardly in the said channeled levers.

Secured to thetransom 13, beside the plate 57, are plates 63, similar toplates 57 and in which the channeled levers 56 may be pivoted when it isdesired that rollers 55 should act direct upon such channeled levers. Inthis arrangement the operation is the same as be- IOO IOS

IIO

@sassi fore described, the difference being that the brakes are moregradually applied.

l/Vith the construction of the brake-applying mechanism as abovedescribed it is apparent that the momentum of the car serves to applythe brakes with constantlyincreasing force until athe wheels 12 areblocked, and this is suitable for emergency purposes; but owing to thepossible objection to a complete stoppage of the wheels l2 as tending toflatten the tread thereof in its general application I have furthermodified the construction somewhat, as shown in Fig. 4, to provide forreleasing the wheel-engaging part from the brake-applying mechanism whena predetermined degree of braking force has been reached, which will beinsufficient to produce a complete stoppage of the wheel. In thismodified construction the roller 54 is carried by a sleeve 64, which isloosely mounted on the shaft 52 in place of the sleeve 53, and theroller 55 is carried by a separate sleeve 65, also mounted on saidshaft, the two sleeves 64 and 65 having serrated ends, with theirserrations held intel-meshing by means of a coilspring 66, mounted onthe shaft 52 and bearing at one end against the roller 55 and at theother ends against a washer 67, fastened on the shaft 52. By this meansthe two sleeves 64 and 65 are held in frictional engagement with eachother and normally rotate together, so that as the roller 55 is broughtinto engagement with the wheel 12 it will turn the roller 54 as beforeand cause it to ride down the channeled lever 56 and apply the brakesuntil the braking power has reached a predetermined extent suiiicient tocause the roller 54 to offer a resistance to the turning by roller 55,which will cause the sleeve 65 to disengage its serrations from theseri-ations of the sleeve 64 against the pressure of the spring 66. Theroller 55 will then continue its further movements independentof theroller 54, and the braking' power will remain constant at thatpredetermined degree without completely stopping the car-wheels.

While the construction illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 has been described ashaving two sets of rollers for engaging the wheel and the channeledlevers, respectively, it is obvious that as they are rigidly secured toa common sleeve they, in effect, constitutea single roller, with anannular space between the two bearing'- surfaces, and consequently theyare together treated as a single roller in some of the claims. The sameis true of the construction shown in Fig. 4, while the two sleeves arelocked together by their seri-ations, which, as above described, istheir normal condition, and therefore this construction is also includedby the terms of the claims above noted, wherein a single roller isreferred to.

What I claim as my invention isl. The combination with a wheel, of abrake engagement with the wheel to receive rotary motion therefrom, anda movable part in connection with the brake and bearing on the rollerand on which the roller rides when turned by the wheel to wedge itselfbetween the wheel-surface and the movable part and force said part tomove and thereby apply the brake.

2. The combination with a wheel, of a brake therefor, a roller adaptedto be brought into engagement with the wheel to receive rotary motiontherefrom, and a lever in connection with the brake and bearing ontheroller and on which the roller rides when turned by the wheel towedge itself between the wheelsurface and the lever and force said leverto swing and thereby apply the brake.

The combination with a wheel, of abrake therefor, a roller adapted to bebrought into engagement with the wheel to receive rotary motiontherefrom, and a lever in connection with the brake and bearing on theroller and on which the roller rides when turned by the wheel to wedgeitself between the wheel-surface and the lever and force said lever toswing and thereby apply the brake, the surface of the roller bearing onthe wheel being of different diameter from the surface thereof bearingon the lever.

4. The combination with a wheel, of abrake therefor, a lever havingconnection with the brake, a shaft movable between the lever and thewheel, a roller on the shaft adapted to bear on the wheel, `and a secondroller on the shaft bearing on the lever and adapted to be turned by theiirstnamed roller when said roller is brought into bearing with thewheel and thereby be caused to ride on the lever to wedge the shaftbetween the wheel and the lever and cause said lever to swing and applythe brake.

5. The combination with a wheel, of a brake therefor, a lever havingconnection with the brake, a shaft movable between the lever and thewheel, a sleeve loosely mounted on the shaft, a roller on the sleevebearing on the lever, and a second roller on the sleeve adapted to bearon the wheel and be rotated thereby to rotate the first-named roller andcause it to ride on the lever and force the shaft to wedge between thelever and the wheel and thereby swing the lever to apply the brake.

6. The combination with a wheel, of a brake therefor, a lever havingconnection with the brake, a shaft movable between the lever and thewheel, a roller carried by the shaft bearing on the lever, and means formoving the shaft to bring the roller into engagement with the wheel andcause it to rotate and thereby ride on the lever and wedge the shaftbetween the lever and wheel requiring the lever to swing and apply thebrake.

7. The combination with a car-truck, of a pair of bell-crank leverspivoted to the trucktherefor, a roller adapted to be brought into iframe, a pair of track-levers also pivoted to IOO ISO

the truek-frame, a pair of arms pivoted on the bell-crank levers, ashaft carried by the pair of arms, rollers Carried by the shaft bearingon the track-levers, a brake-gear connected with the track-levers, andmeans for swinging the bell-crank levers to move the rollers intobearing with the truck-wheels whereby said rollers are caused to rotateand ride on the track-levers to wedge the shaft between the wheels andthe track-levers and so Cause the track-levers to swing and apply thebrake.

8. The combination with a pivoted ear-truck and its platform, ofa pairof bell-crank levers pivoted to the truck-frame, an are-shaped barpivotally connected to the outer ends of said bell-crank levers, a linkhaving a guide-support from the platform and slidably engaging theare-shaped bar, a pair of track-levers also pivoted on the truck-frame,a pair of arms pivoted to the inner ends of the bell erank levers, ashaft Carried by the pair of arms, rollers carried by the shaft bearingon the track-levers, a brake-gear connected with the track-levers, andmeans for moving the link to swing the bell-crank levers and Cause themto move the rollers into bearing with the truekwheels whereby saidrollers are Caused to rotate and ride en the track-levers to wedge theshaft between the wheels and the track-levers and so cause thetrack-levers to swing and apply the brakes, the are-shaped bar servingto maintain the operative connection between the link and the belleranklevers rduring the pivotal movements of the truck.

9. The Combination with a pivoted ear-truck and its platform, of a pairof bell-erank levers pivoted to the truck-frame, an are-shaped barpivotally connected to the outer ends of said bell-crank levers, a linkhaving a guide-support from the platform and slidably engaging theare-shaped bar, a pair of friction-rollers Carried by the link toreceive the are-shaped bar between them, a lever pivoted to the platformand having connection with the link, a shaft journaled in the platformand having a Crank and link adjustable connection with the lever, aCrank-handle on the shaft, means in connection therewith for loekingtheshaft in its several positions, a pair of track-levers also pivoted onthe truck-frame, apair of arms pivoted on the inner ends of thebellcrank levers, a shaft carried by the pair of arms, rollers mountedon the shaft and bearing on the track-levers, and a brake-gear eonnectedwith the track-levers, said bell-crank levers being adapted to be swungby the operation of the crank-handle to move the rollers into bearingwith the truck-wheels whereby said rollers are caused to rotate and rideon the track-levers to move said track-levers and apply the brakes.

lO. The Combination with a pivoted cartruek and its platform, of a pairof bell-crank levers pivoted to the truck-frame, an areshaped barpivotally connected to the outer ends of said bell-crank levers, a linkhaving a guide-support from the platform and slidably engaging theare-shaped bar, a pair of track-levers also pivoted on the truck-frame,a pair of arms pivoted on the inner ends of the bell-crank levers, ashaft earried by the pair of arms, rollers mounted on the shaft bearingon the traek-levers, an aro-shaped bar connecting the track-levers, abrake-lever pivoted to the ear-platform having a sliding'- linkconnection with the are-shaped bar of the track-levers, a eenterbrake-lever pivoted to the ear-platform, a brake-rod Connecting theeenter brake-lever with said brake-lever, a pair of brake-shoessuspended between the wheels on each side of the truck, brake-leverspivoted thereto, Coupling-bars connecting the brake levers, springs alsoconnecting the brake-levers, a stop for one brake-leveren eaeh side ofthe truek, a brake-rod eonneeted to the other brake-lever on each sideof the truek, an are-shaped bar connecting the brake-rods, guides on thetruck-frame for supporting the brake-rods, a sliding-link connectionbetween said are-shaped bar of the brake-rods and the eenterbrake-lever, and means for moving the link which is in connection withthe areshaped bar of the bell-crank levers to Cause said bell-cranklevers to bring the rollers into engagement with the truck-wheels toreeeive motion therefrom and impart motion to the track-levers to applythe brakes.

l1. The Combination with a wheel,of a brake therefor, a lever havingconnection with the brake, and a roller bearing on the lever and adaptedto be brought into bearing with the wheel to receive motion therefromand be caused to ride upon the lever to swing said lever and apply thebrake, said roller being formed in two parts normally loeked together sothat the turning of one part by the wheel will Cause the other part toturn and ride on the lever but Capable of becoming unlocked when thebraking power has reached a predetermined degree and so permit the partin engagement with the wheel to rotate independently of the other part.

l2. The combination with a wheel, a brake therefor, a lever havingconnection with the brake, a shaft, a roller mounted thereon and bearingon the lever, another roller mounted on the shaft adapted to be broughtinto bearing with the wheel, and means for maintaining an engagementbetween the two rollers until the rotary movements given to one rollerby the wheel have been imparted to theother roller to cause it to rideon the lever and apply the brakes to a predetermined extent and thenreleasing the engagement between the rollers.

13. The Combination with a wheel,0f a brake therefor, a lever havingconnection with the brake, a shaft, a roller mounted thereon and bearingon the lever,and another roller mount- IOO IIO

ed on the shaft and having frictional engagement with the iirst-narnedroller, the latternamed roller being adapted to be brought intoengagement with the wheel to cause the rotation of the iirst-narnedroller and produce the application of the brake thereby, such frietionalengagement becoming inefective when the brake has been applied toapredetermined degree.

14C. The combination with a wheel, of a brake therefor, a lever havingconnection with the brake, a Shaft, a sleeve loosely mounted on theShaft, a roller on the sleeve bearing on the lever, a second Sleeveloosely mounted on the shaft and having a serrated end adapted tointermesh with a serrated end ot' the lirstnamed sleeve, a roller on thesecond sleeve adapted to be brought into engagement with the wheel, anda coil-spring seated on the shaft and pressing' the two sleeves togetherto produce a frietional engagement between them and cause the rotationof the secondnamed roller when in Contact with the wheel to produce arotation of the lirst-named roller and cause it to ride on the lever andforce said lever to Swing and apply the brakes until the resistance ofthe irst-named roller is suiiieient to cause the second-named roller toovercome the pressure of the Spring and rotate independently of thefirst-named roller.

In testimony whereof l aiiix my signature in presence ol two witnesses.

LOUIS C. KHLER. Witnesses:

R. S. C. CALDWELL, ANNA l?. SCHMIDTBAUER.

